Curing Your Hangover with Science

You’re still lying in bed at 3pm, only getting up for much-too-frequent bathroom visits. A half-empty box of Cheese Nips sits on your night stand and you can’t even open your eyes without the room spinning. Who HASN’T been there?! But why do we feel so crumby when last night we felt so good? More importantly, how do we make it staaaaaaahp?!

A hangover is the result of several processes going on in numerous systems of your body. When alcohol is broken down in your liver, it results in high levels of a toxin called acetaldehyde, which make you feel tired and run down. Acetaldehyde is then further broken down into acetate, and then into carbon dioxide and water, before you feel better again.

Here are some scientific tips to stop your day-after from being a complete write-off:

Eat Eggs in the Morning

Eggs contain a high concentration of amino acid L-cysteine which helps to battle excess acetaldehyde in your system and cure those feelings of general lousiness.

Have a Drink

If you’re looking for a short-term fix, this may help – but not for long. When you drink, alcohol holds back a brain chemical called glutamate. That causes your brain to make more and more of it. When the alcohol wears off, you have a bunch of it floating around in your brain. It may be to blame for hangover symptoms like irritability, headaches, nausea and fatigue.

Down another drink or two the next morning, and you’ll hold off the glutamate all over again. Your hangover symptoms may improve. But it won’t last. Once you stop drinking you’ll still have to deal with a hangover. Sorry.

Drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink

Alcohol is a diuretic – it prohibits production of a hormone called vasopressin which regulates how much water your kidneys can hold. Therefore, water is dumped on your bladder.

Stop drinking 1.5 hours before bed

That old wife’s tale about a pint of water before bed might not cut it. The research suggests that alcohol reduces your ability to sleep soundly, therefore in order to not further mess up your sleep pattern, stop drinking well before bedtime.

Eat before drinking

Alcohol affects the mucus lining of your stomach which protects your guts from their acidic contents. Protein also slows down the absorption of alcohol, which is why you get drunk faster on an empty stomach.

These ideas might help to an extent, but there is only one logical, surefire way to stop a hangover – don’t drink like an idiot. Ya- OKAY, SAM.